The Right Stuff

Victor Frankle once said, ~A man who becomes conscious of the responsibilities he bears towards a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the "why" for existence, and will be able to bear almost any how.~ For the past decade my job has been about the safety, well being, teaching, guiding, molding, character building, expressing positive reinforcement, and growth of kids, which has been a responsibility I chose even though I think it chose me. In any case, there comes a point where an unsure question begins to nag at you even though friends, family, and your peers already know the answer to it. So, the question I have to ask myself is, do I have the abilities/qualities to be a great dad someday?

If you think about it, when you become a parent you are automatically considered an authority figure who has the so-called power to say or do what feels necessary to look out for their own best interests. Unfortunately, looking after their own best interests can cause friction as they get older to where heated arguments are exchanged, which really never changes in the game called parenting. Working in the asylum, I've encountered heated friction with "my kids" both past and present because of looking out for their own best interests in mind. However, its those same kids who you angrily butted heads with are the ones you end up laughing with as you are playing a game of pool, which is one of many aspects of parenting one will experience or already is experiencing.

Without a doubt, when it comes to being a parent you exude a tremendous amount of patience dealing with their own child/children on a daily basis. Now imagine dealing with countless, hyperactive kids for 5 days a week, 5 hours per day, which doesn't include summer camp hours of 5 days a week, 8 hours per day with an army full of kids who make you want to rip your own hair out at times. Essentially, you spend countless hours in a sort of controlled chaos environment where kids will push your patience close or beyond its breaking point and yet its those same kids who know when to back off because they've learned to respect how far they can take you without having to be strangled to death, which hasn't happened to me yet even though I've come close to it.

For the question can be asked, if you're a parent how would you react to seeing or hearing that your own child got hurt? The well experienced parent would absolutely remain calm as possible not only for his or her own sake, but also for the child's sake as well. Why? If that scared child sees you freaking out that child will freak out also and inevitably you have two people freaking out. For the most part, you have to keep a level head about you and by doing that you think more clearly instead of running in all crazy as if you're a chicken with its head cut off. Let me tell you something, there have been countless times in the past where I was freaking out inside because a child either broke his arm or suffered a deep gash in the forehead, but I was able to be calm on the outside for the sake of the child.

About 2 weeks ago, my godson was born and several days later I was able to hold him in my arms for the very first time. While holding Caleb Bruce Jones in my arms, I felt like a proud dad and all the past experience working with kids over the past 10 years culminated into thinking to myself that this somehow just feels right. For an hour, he didn't make a sound and the only noise he did make was when he needed to be changed, which was a responsibility I gave over to the mother. Hey, it's all about baby steps and I'll do it eventually. In the end, my unsure question that kept nagging at me was answered when one of my friends/peers looked me in the eyes and told me that I was a natural who possessed all the right stuff to be an awesomely great dad someday.